Sad State of Bearcat Basketball

[sedz]

In the spirit of this thread, let's do the 5 Ws

Why are we underachieving with this roster?

Who is responsible?

What is the solution?

Where is the money going?

(w)How are we going to fix it all?


If you come back with everything is Wes and John's fault, explain your opinion, if you haven't already previously.

We're underachieving because we run an outdated inefficient offense and we don't prioritize analytics for roster construction. This roster wasn't great to begin with. We started the season #40 on Torvik, not exactly an NCAA lock.

Wes Miller is ultimately responsible for this season. The AD is responsible long term.

The solution is to hire people who use current tools and strategies. Until that happens we will be left behind.

I don't know where the money is going. The only guys worth paying on this roster are Jizzle, Day Day, Baba, and Thiam. I can understand taking a risk on Abaev. Everyone else was a sub 3 BPM player, and we can't afford to waste money on that. Are we paying good money to Kriisa, Harris, and Celestine? I hope not.

To fix it we have to play Moneyball. We aren't spending like top 20 teams. We have to get value for every dollar, and get the most out of what we land with efficient strategy. At least 4 BPM at every position. Modern strategies on both sides of the ball, and willing to implement new ones each year.

I don't think effort is the issue. I think college athletes generally play hard. There isn't a magic motivation button to be pressed. But we can get more production from the same effort and talent with better tactics. And we can better predict talent by using production based metrics.

[Lobot]

Whewwww , that last paragraph is gold. I'm thankful for our big donors and other boosters but yeah, they need to butt out regarding on court stuff. Money talks but if you're not an expert on the actual sport, maybe defer to those with actual expertise in that.

I don't fell like Wes or John are in full control of the program right now and that's translates to Football for John .

You'd think the big money folks would want better ROI than whatever this mess is right now.

I'll repeat my mantra. Fans cheer, players play, coaches coach, administrators administrate, donors donate. If everyone stays in their lane we'd bet better off than where we are now.

[London 'Cat]

In the spirit of this thread, let's do the 5 Ws

Why are we underachieving with this roster?

Who is responsible?

What is the solution?

Where is the money going?

(w)How are we going to fix it all?


If you come back with everything is Wes and John's fault, explain your opinion, if you haven't already previously.

Is UC underachieving? I am not saying they are or are not. Maybe the players on the roster are not what the coaching staff thought or that the fans believed. Maybe it's a problem that sedz referred to in a prior thread - the players recruited are not effective players and their stats back that up.

The coaches are the bottom line. Whether they recruited the wrong players, whether they can't coach them properly, whether they are not establishing a winning culture, it all comes back to the coaching staff. You can blame it on the AD for making the wrong hire, but the AD also has little to no influence of the team's play. It fall squarely at the feet of the coaching staff.

The solution is to move on from CWM as he is not the coach UC thought it was hiring. He amassed a great number of wins at a young age, albeit in a lesser conference. Sometimes, a coach answers the call when stepping up the competition. In CWM's case, he did not dominate the lesser competition, and it appears UC fell for the fools gold. Whatever the case, CWM has not stepped up to the competition. I am asking because I do not know, but how many Q1 games has CWM won while at UC? I am thinking the number is between 0-5, which is terrible over the 4+ years he has been at UC.

Where the money is going is a mystery to me, because not one player seems to be worth the price UC is paying for them. We don't know the amount of NIL contracts but we have heard varied amounts. I can tell you that none of these players have earned their contracts to date, with the exception of Baba Miller, and even that is in question.

Like leo from jersey wrote, how we fix it is the $1M question. I think UC starts with replacing CWM and hiring a coach who will stand up to the big $ donors, telling them he will coach the team in his way regardless of their opinions. It is the only way a coach can be successful, otherwise the coach is simply a public face of the program.

[leo from jersey]

In the spirit of this thread, let's do the 5 Ws

Why are we underachieving with this roster?

Who is responsible?

What is the solution?

Where is the money going?

(w)How are we going to fix it all?


If you come back with everything is Wes and John's fault, explain your opinion, if you haven't already previously.

I will add the 6th w -- I wish I knew exactly and I wish there was a way to fix it.

[Lobot]

In the spirit of this thread, let's do the 5 Ws

Why are we underachieving with this roster?

Who is responsible?

What is the solution?

Where is the money going?

(w)How are we going to fix it all?


If you come back with everything is Wes and John's fault, explain your opinion, if you haven't already previously.

[swilsonsp4]

Here are Net rankings for local teams:
UK - 26
tosu - 43
Miami - 79
Dayton - 90
UC - 108
x - 121
NKU - 216

I wonder where Butler and IU fits into this.

IN - 32
Butler - 42

[bearcatbret]

Here are Net rankings for local teams:
UK - 26
tosu - 43
Miami - 79
Dayton - 90
UC - 108
x - 121
NKU - 216

I wonder where Butler and IU fits into this.

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

Merry Christmas to everyone. Enjoy your families and friends. Best wishes for the New Year. Do not drink too much.

[Gmann]

The one thing that bothers me about UC basketball is not the current win-loss record, but with all of the pro-prospects (Miller, Thiam, and Abaev), the high-school All-American (Abaev), the NBA coaching consultants, staff, and directors, UC is one of the bottom teams in the BIG XII. UC has a bunch of players that have been a part of high-major basketball for a long time. UC's two main guards are 3-year BIG XII guards and it has a coaching staff that has over 20 years of collective college basketball experience. Wow! It seems unbelievable that they cannot do better than what have been doing.

Zero (0) wins against Power 4 and Big East teams this year (0-4). What makes us think it will get better in the BIG XII?

Under Miller, the program desperately lacks the KILLER INSTINCT to win. That killer instinct is something that Huggins and Cronin had.

All those reasons and more prove Miller is completely incapable of successfully coaching at this level! They need 14 or 15 wins in the conference to have a chance at the tourney and given the fact we have zero quad 1 or 2 wins make that goal unattainable. It's a shame that his current buyout will require us to suffer through the rest of season agony at least before consideration of another coach.

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

The one thing that bothers me about UC basketball is not the current win-loss record, but with all of the pro-prospects (Miller, Thiam, and Abaev), the high-school All-American (Abaev), the NBA coaching consultants, staff, and directors, UC is one of the bottom teams in the BIG XII. UC has a bunch of players that have been a part of high-major basketball for a long time. UC's two main guards are 3-year BIG XII guards and it has a coaching staff that has over 20 years of collective college basketball experience. Wow! It seems unbelievable that they cannot do better than what have been doing.

Zero (0) wins against Power 4 and Big East teams this year (0-4). What makes us think it will get better in the BIG XII?

Under Miller, the program desperately lacks the KILLER INSTINCT to win. That killer instinct is something that Huggins and Cronin had.

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

Jarrod Calhoun. That is the coach that UC should go after. Calhoun is currently coaching at Utah State. He has been there for two years. His record is 26-8 (first year and he made the NCAAs). His current year (2nd year), he is 10-1. Overall, at Utah State, he is 36-9. Calhoun plays tough defense with scoring prowess. Currently, USU scores about 85.9 points a game and gives up about 66.7 a game. That ain't bad.

I have seen Utah State play and if it played UC right now, it would win the game. Utah State routinely employs full court traps, it double-teams in the post, and in general plays winning basketball.

Here is the most interesting thing about Jerrod Calhoun. He was an assistant under Huggins when Huggins was at Cincinnati and West Virginia (in different roles). His defense, in some cases, reminds me of the early pressing and trapping teams that Huggins had when he was at UC.

Here is another fun fact about Calhoun: he is a UC grad, and he is 44 years old. If I am UC, this is the guy that I am trying to get to replace Miller. He coached at Youngstown State before Utah State and he knows what UC basketball is all about. Look him up for yourself.

Enough said.

[JohnFrancis]

Let's see, Byington succeeds Stackhouse at Vanderbilt -win.
White goes to Georgia, so Florida hires Golden - win.
Pitino to St. Johns - win.

Seems to me that hiring a good head coach isn't some impossible task.

[Chewbacca2099]

I'm sure Huggins would come back in a heartbeat... and probably a lot cheaper than Wes! Not everyone would embrace it but I think most of us would... include in his contract a full time personal assistant (aka full time driver)

[SKell82155]

John Groce knows how to run an offense. I would love to hire that guy.

If I remember correctly, he did a great job with
Xavier big men in his stint with them.

[BearKatz]

A father vs son crosstown shootout would be cool.

I wanted Rick right before we hired Brannen, but everyone felt he had too much baggage. I think most of us would take him in a heartbeat now.